Just because I felt like it.
1. Write Every Day - (even a little bit). The more you write, the better you'll get. You'll have a novel before you know it.
2. Write What Interests You - If you're bored, your reader will probably be bored, too.
3. Learn And Steal From The Greats, But Always Be Original - A bit of a contradiction, but most of writing is balancing tried and true techniques with your own unique voice.
4. Great Writers Are Avid Readers - A bit of a spin-off of number three. If you don't read, how will you ever learn how to write?
5. Worry About The Grammar Later - Don't get so obsessed with making each sentence perfect that you never write more than one paragraph. You'll have time to make every word sparkle later, during the editing process.
6. Stretch Yourself - Write something all in dialogue. Write only using questions. Switch between first person and third person... hell, use second person. Write from the point of view of a chair. Who has sat in it? Maybe Benjamin Franklin! =D
7. Make Friends - If you help other writers and form a writing community with your friends, your work will improve as a result.
8. Learn to Critique - Extension of number seven. Learn to read with a critical eye. It will improve your own writing dramatically.
9. Know Your Characters - Great writers have great characters. They will lead the way when you are feeling stuck or uninspired.
10. Have fun - If you aren't having fun, you aren't doing it right. But even when you're not having fun, keep writing until you start again and try to find new ways to stay engaged.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
NaNoWriMo or How To Plan Your Novel
Everyone that reads this blog should GET EXCITED. It's the month of October now, and you all know what that means: it's only 1 more month until NaNoWriMo!
For those of you that don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, a 30 day race to write 50,000 words during the month of November. It starts at 12:00 AM on November 1st and ends at 11:59 PM on November 30th. Check out the website at www.nanowrimo.org and get pumped! They have all sorts of cool forums, word counting devices, ways to procrastinate and build your world, and tons of different groups to join. During the month there are Word Wars to boost your word count, forum doctors that will help revitalize your sick and/or dying plot, adoptable characters and plots, and experts in just about any field imaginable. The forums are so much fun that they can distract you from actually getting any writing done!
Last year, I won NaNo (everyone wins as long as you complete 50,000 words in the space of 30 days) with my murder mystery: Death Wears Yellow Garters. All of you can go read it if you are so inclined. It has lesbian sex, crazy relatives, evil dogs, and, of course, a murder that has to be solved.
You can do as much planning as you want before November, but no actual writing. I am actually cheating, and I am going to finish my Senator's Daughter storyline that I started and stopped at 5,000 words (I'm still writing 50,000 words at least, so I'm not skimping on the word count, but I did start early. Shhhh, don't tell!)
Assuming you aren't like me and don't want to "bend the rules", per se, go ahead and start planning instead of beginning your actual novel. That can be a lot of work in and of itself. Write out some character names. Summarize your novel in ten words, three sentences, one paragraph, one page. Use an excel sheet to write a short summary for each chapter. Draw a fun graph with colors. Break out the crayons and put together a map if you are using a fantasy or sci-fi world. Draw your characters. Just draw rainbows if it inspires you. Write poems. Write short excerpts from the point of view of your characters. Just get planning. Hook up with other writers and discuss your ideas. Lurk on the NaNo boards. Visit the Adoptables threads to get some ideas.
Get pumped, because it's going to be a huge sprint to the finish.
What are you doing for NaNo? Tell me in comments, which I always read even if I occasionally get distracted and forget to respond.
For those of you that don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, a 30 day race to write 50,000 words during the month of November. It starts at 12:00 AM on November 1st and ends at 11:59 PM on November 30th. Check out the website at www.nanowrimo.org and get pumped! They have all sorts of cool forums, word counting devices, ways to procrastinate and build your world, and tons of different groups to join. During the month there are Word Wars to boost your word count, forum doctors that will help revitalize your sick and/or dying plot, adoptable characters and plots, and experts in just about any field imaginable. The forums are so much fun that they can distract you from actually getting any writing done!
Last year, I won NaNo (everyone wins as long as you complete 50,000 words in the space of 30 days) with my murder mystery: Death Wears Yellow Garters. All of you can go read it if you are so inclined. It has lesbian sex, crazy relatives, evil dogs, and, of course, a murder that has to be solved.
You can do as much planning as you want before November, but no actual writing. I am actually cheating, and I am going to finish my Senator's Daughter storyline that I started and stopped at 5,000 words (I'm still writing 50,000 words at least, so I'm not skimping on the word count, but I did start early. Shhhh, don't tell!)
Assuming you aren't like me and don't want to "bend the rules", per se, go ahead and start planning instead of beginning your actual novel. That can be a lot of work in and of itself. Write out some character names. Summarize your novel in ten words, three sentences, one paragraph, one page. Use an excel sheet to write a short summary for each chapter. Draw a fun graph with colors. Break out the crayons and put together a map if you are using a fantasy or sci-fi world. Draw your characters. Just draw rainbows if it inspires you. Write poems. Write short excerpts from the point of view of your characters. Just get planning. Hook up with other writers and discuss your ideas. Lurk on the NaNo boards. Visit the Adoptables threads to get some ideas.
Get pumped, because it's going to be a huge sprint to the finish.
What are you doing for NaNo? Tell me in comments, which I always read even if I occasionally get distracted and forget to respond.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
A treatise on style... or how to refer to your characters without actually saying their names
This post is... exactly what it says in the title. It will (hopefully) show you how to refer to your characters without using their names. It can be very exhausting to read someone's fiction and see the same one, two, or three names printed several times in every paragraph. Now, you need to use names sometimes, especially when you are writing about a large group of people conversing. It is necessary to clarify who is speaking. But in scenes with two or three participants, you have the flexibility to use other adjectives and titles for your characters.
If you have Microsoft Word, try an experiment. Highlight all of your novel/whatever you're working on and go to the 'Tools' tab. Then go to 'Autosummarize'. It should open up a new window and allow you to shorten your highlighted work. The automatic choices range from 75% to 25%, or you can choose the exact number of words you want to shorten to. Pick the lowest one (it should be ten sentences).
For your pleasure and amusement, I will now read the entirety of my masterpiece, Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning (the condensed version).
Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning (in 11 words and/or 10 sentences)
“Gwen! “Mandy.”
“Gwen – Gwen…? “Gwen!” “Mandy!” Mandy...” “Gwen... “Gwen.” “Gwen?” “Gwen!
*Bows to the thunderous applause*
See? It's just the two main characters' names over and over again. You get the idea. This proves just how much the names of your characters saturate your work.
Now, names are still going to be your primary means of identifying which character is speaking or performing a specific action. However, some variation is occasionally refreshing.
Here's an example from Magnetic Resistance, simply because it is in third person, the most difficult viewpoint to write in terms of understanding who is talking (first person presents other, unique challenges).
Notice how I (subtly) replaced the name Alex with 'the dozing attorney', 'the counselor' and 'the blonde'. I replaced Olivia with 'the detective' at the end.
You can use someone's hair color, eye color, skin color, clothing, height, job, or profession to distinguish who you are talking about. Basically, use whatever you want. Just please do it in moderation. Seeing 'the blonde' a million times is no better than seeing your character's name over and over again on the page.
Here are some examples, but please, for the LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, use them sparingly, and juggle them so you don't end up sounding like a bad Harlequin. PLEASE.
'The taller woman'
'The olive-skinned woman'
'The scientist'
'The police officer'
'The spaceship pilot'
'The politician'
'The younger woman'
'The brunette'
'The violinist'
You get the idea... profession, age, hair color, height, ect. Just be very, very careful. This tool can be useful for adding color and mixing things up, but please use with caution.
You can also use 'her lover' or 'her girlfriend'/'her wife'/ect, esp during sex scenes, but once again, be careful. Don't overuse or you'll end up with a disaster.
If you have Microsoft Word, try an experiment. Highlight all of your novel/whatever you're working on and go to the 'Tools' tab. Then go to 'Autosummarize'. It should open up a new window and allow you to shorten your highlighted work. The automatic choices range from 75% to 25%, or you can choose the exact number of words you want to shorten to. Pick the lowest one (it should be ten sentences).
For your pleasure and amusement, I will now read the entirety of my masterpiece, Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning (the condensed version).
Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning (in 11 words and/or 10 sentences)
“Gwen! “Mandy.”
“Gwen – Gwen…? “Gwen!” “Mandy!” Mandy...” “Gwen... “Gwen.” “Gwen?” “Gwen!
*Bows to the thunderous applause*
See? It's just the two main characters' names over and over again. You get the idea. This proves just how much the names of your characters saturate your work.
Now, names are still going to be your primary means of identifying which character is speaking or performing a specific action. However, some variation is occasionally refreshing.
Here's an example from Magnetic Resistance, simply because it is in third person, the most difficult viewpoint to write in terms of understanding who is talking (first person presents other, unique challenges).
It would be so easy to fall in love with Alex. Who am I kidding? I'm already in love with her. I have been for years. Olivia sighed, pressing a kiss to the dozing attorney's warm forehead. Her eyes were closed, her breath deep and even as she slept curled up against Olivia's side like it was the most natural place in the world for them to be. Everything felt so right...
Olivia shifted slightly in Alex's embrace, almost smiling as the blonde murmured something in her sleep and held her tighter, unwilling to let her go. The small movement made Olivia's heart ache. Was Alex afraid she would cut and run? She could not deny that she was thinking about it. Part of her wanted to sneak out the door and never come back. After experiencing Alex, no one else would ever be enough. Alex loved her. Olivia believed it. She had seen it in those sincere blue eyes, felt it in the gentle, reverent caresses that explored her legs and hips and breasts, the lips that had teased and taken and tortured hers.
She had believed it as Alex's fierce, scorching tongue explored her folds, only pausing when the counselor glanced up through the square lenses of those damn glasses and licked her lips, lips covered in gloss and a smile and Olivia. At the time, the look had been incendiary, even decadent. But remembering, the detective knew that there was love behind it. And that terrified her.
Notice how I (subtly) replaced the name Alex with 'the dozing attorney', 'the counselor' and 'the blonde'. I replaced Olivia with 'the detective' at the end.
You can use someone's hair color, eye color, skin color, clothing, height, job, or profession to distinguish who you are talking about. Basically, use whatever you want. Just please do it in moderation. Seeing 'the blonde' a million times is no better than seeing your character's name over and over again on the page.
Here are some examples, but please, for the LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, use them sparingly, and juggle them so you don't end up sounding like a bad Harlequin. PLEASE.
'The taller woman'
'The olive-skinned woman'
'The scientist'
'The police officer'
'The spaceship pilot'
'The politician'
'The younger woman'
'The brunette'
'The violinist'
You get the idea... profession, age, hair color, height, ect. Just be very, very careful. This tool can be useful for adding color and mixing things up, but please use with caution.
You can also use 'her lover' or 'her girlfriend'/'her wife'/ect, esp during sex scenes, but once again, be careful. Don't overuse or you'll end up with a disaster.
